I was not brought up to war as were the Children of the Dust. Even as an Army Brat, my father made sure I was always kept safe and away from the veterans and the weapons. My father didn't want me to serve. I was drafted into this war by destiny. And when I look back on my life, I realize what a naive fool I was then. I was soft.
[Taken From the Memoirs of General Katherine Connor, 2170]
Z Plus Ten Years Fifty Four Days
The war entered its tenth year since Judgment Day, and Humanity was hitting back yet again. Skynet's plan to send in Infiltrators worked phenomenally well for the first few months. But as with all their Terminator models, they rolled off an assembly line. Photos were passed around of every face the Infiltrators wore, and none of them got close ever again.
Tech-Com reworked their weapons, making their rifles more powerful to counter the more hardened Infiltrator's battle-chassis; and the war went on.
Connor noticed that every morning when the Day Shift came on, some of the walls in Crystal Peak had new artworks put up by the Tunnel Rats. He had to admit that some of them had pretty good artistic skills. Every Terminator ever seen had been painted up on the wall 'Wanted Poster' style, usually with cross-hairs or some creative death mark drawn over them.
The Tunnel Rats had largely grown up, but not signed on. They were too mistrustful, and too tight-knit. Kate had drafted them as Base Personnel; and as she was the only maternal figure than any of them could remember, they were willing to follow her; even more than her husband. There were enough of them that they became an indispensable part of the day to day running of the Base.
Skynet made the fatal error of wiping out whatever human being it could find, and so a new face was instantly noticeable on either side, and Skynet didn't have enough variety in its Infiltrators to fake a large community.
Connor started capturing factories again, and Infiltrators were being captured whole, just like the other Machines.
As yet, nobody had tolerated having Infiltrators involved in the running of the bases. Sending them out on missions like their mechanical counterparts was impossible. Skynet gunned down anything that looked human.
Every now and then, Skynet came out with a new face. Every now and then an Infiltrator got through the front door of one base or another and gunned down a few people. Not enough to make a huge difference, but more than enough to keep the fear alive.
Humanity and Skynet traded territory back and forth, but both sides had forces that slipped past the checkpoints and the patrols. The long march to retake the ruined Earth became a War of Attrition, grinding out each others warriors, one by one. The numbers thinned out on one side, and the opposite side got another square on the board.
Skynet was running out of materials, its enormous military efforts using up the refined metals already on hand, and the assembly lines moving too fast to bring in enough supplies past Tech-Com's strike teams.
Humanity was losing foodstuffs, the war stretching longer than was expected.
The War continued beyond either expectations, grinding each other down, slow and difficult, each waiting for something that would break the agonizing stalemate.
Young Sarah Connor's turn came up, and she was given her first mission. Standard scouting run. There was barely a question of who would go with her.
The staff at Crystal Peak didn't dare treat her any differently, but also didn't dare leave anything in her Mission up to chance.
Breathing down Sarah's neck at every step was Lupe and Kyle. Kyle and Lupe were fiercely protective of the Connor children, and Sarah loved them both like family, but couldn't help but feel like they were babysitting her for the duration of the mission. Somewhere in the last three years, both of them had managed to grow another foot or two, leaving Sarah behind.
Sarah had been full of questions and energy the entire trip out. Kyle and Lupe were barely into their late teens, but were approaching the mission like jaded veterans. They drilled her on everything she did, and Sarah drew it in like a sponge.
"Keep your eyes moving!" Kyle called over his shoulder. Sarah was behind him on the motorcycle. Lupe was on a second bike behind them.
"What's that?" Sarah shouted.
Kyle looked where she was pointing and slowed the bike to a stop.
There was a set of tracks. Huge tracks. Tank treads.
Lupe slid off the bike. "H/K tracks. Deep ones."
"Does it matter that they're deep?" Sarah asked.
"Deep tracks mean that either it was moving very slowly, it went past very recently, or there were a lot of them."
"Or all of the above." Lupe put in. "Okay Sarah, lets see what you know. Which way was it going?"
Sarah studied the tracks, and then pointed. "That way."
"Good. And where is it, or they, going?"
Sarah shrugged. "I don't know."
Kyle already had his map out. "Nobody we know of in that direction. Nothing important. But the tracks are deep, so there are a lot of them or they're taking their time getting there."
"Do we call it in, or go and look ourselves?" Sarah asked eagerly.
Kyle and Lupe traded a look. "If we call it in and they're close, it'll be like sending up a flare."
"We go check it out and we'll have to take her with us. The Chief won't like that." Kyle said. "It's not our mission."
"I brought a potato sack in her size, and a roll of duct tape. We could leave her here and come back for her after we check it out." Lupe suggested.
"Hey! Hey! Am I invisible? I'm standing right here!" Sarah said suddenly.
"No, really. I think she can handle it." Kate assured him.
Connor was pacing. "No doubt."
"You don't agree?"
"If there was the slightest doubt, would I have given her the go-ahead in the first place?"
"John, calm down. Remember Kyle and Lupe? Their first run, you and Enrique were pacing around like that scaring the crap outta everybody. You were scaring Yolanda, and I didn't think that was possible. Calm. Down."
"She's our daughter." Connor repeated for the thirtieth time that day.
"I know. I remember. I was there." Kate growled. She hated this fiercely. She always knew that her first duty in this war would be to keep her husband on the right track, but Sarah was still her baby. She wanted to curl up in a ball and not come out until Sarah was back safe and sound. But she couldn't do that, because she was in command of the base now. And Connor couldn't do that, because he was still running a Planet-Wide war.
The thought that stopped her cold, was the thought that if her eldest child died, it would have been her husband's order that sent her out to her death. John still hadn't forgiven himself for her miscarriage, let alone their eight year old daughter.
Connor sighed hard and rubbed his face hard. "Give me something to do."
Kate nodded. Activity was the best defense. "Okay, how about this? The latest members to the One Boot Brigade-"
"The Non Combat Forces." John corrected absently.
"Whatever. They need their first lesson in Paydirt 101."
"You want me to do it?"
"No. But Robbie needs something to do too. It's the first time he and his sister have had Skynet between them. He's reacting about the same way you are."
"So tell him. You're Base CO, it's your project."
"I would. But I think this should come from you, Supreme General; and you need to be kept busy too."
Connor nodded. "Ah. I'll handle it."
Noah was watching them out of the corner of her eye. Kate slumped a little as Connor left, and Noah slipped over to her. "Men do not take these things well do they?"
Kate smirked. "It would appear not, no. I don't blame him. There are people near worshiping him downstairs, and he has to just sit here and watch while his only daughter goes out into the Wastelands."
"And so do you." Noah shook her head. "Michael will be Sarah's age next year."
Kate looked sympathetic. One mother to another. "I appreciate you keeping things under control while she's out there. It hasn't gone unnoticed. Especially since you don't approve of kids on the battlefield."
Noah shrugged and glanced around. Nobody was listening. "When I first got assigned with General Whickham, we served in a forward area. The guys we were sent to kill had child soldiers on the battlefield. Ten years old and one of them was carving his 'kills' on the butt of his rifle. Ten years old. I hate that we're the ones doing it now."
"Noah... Erica." Kate said gently. "When we started Tech-Com we never set an age limit. Eight years old or eighty, if you can pass the entry trials, you can wear the Uniform. I agreed with it because Skynet doesn't care how old you are; but now…More than two thirds of the people on this Base, and for that matter, anywhere else in the world, are under twenty five years old. To be honest, that scares the hell outta me. You, me, John, Eric, Gould, Enrique, Yolanda... we're not just the Old Soldiers, we're the exceptions to the rule. You just don't live long enough out there."
Noah nodded. "I know. And I hate how fast you go from childhood to middle aged now, but... That's not because of us, is it?"
"Nope."
Noah sighed hard. And then smiled a little for Kate. "She's going to be okay."
Kate tensed slightly. "I know."
Robbie was scrubbing out the inside of a pot in the mess when Connor came down to the kitchens. He paused by Sherrin, who was keeping an eye on things. "Tony."
Sherrin saluted with his good arm. "Sir."
"How's Robbie?"
"You talk to him, he's fine." Sherrin said honestly. "But he's been scrubbing that pot for thirty minutes now, and I honestly don't think he knows how much time has passed."
Connor nodded. "Tony, he likes you."
Sherrin blinked. "Sir."
"You ever take an interest in farming?"
"No more than anyone else wondering where their next meal is coming from."
"We're expanding the Eden Project. We need more people who know how to make Paydirt."
"Robbie's an expert."
"I want to give him something to do, and I think he'd be less… difficult about it if he knew you were interested too."
Sherrin nodded. "Sir."
Robbie came out of his thoughts when his father took the pot out of his hand. "Dad?"
"Robbie, something has come up-"
"Oh no. Sarah! Is it Sarah?"
"Nono, Sarah's fine. Near as we can tell, she's still on schedule. Lupe and Kyle are with her. You know them."
"Yessir."
Connor felt for his son. The boy was worried about his big sister. He wanted to be out there with them. A feeling that everyone in the family could relate to. "Well, what I was about to say, is that Hernan got called away at the last minute. We need someone to fill in for him with Eden."
Robbie didn't quite get it yet. "Who?"
"You."
"Me?"
"You know all the stuff they need to learn. You're better at it than I am."
Robbie took it like a seven year old should and saluted. "Okay."
Connor returned it and smiled.
Out on the fringes, Sarah was staring through her binoculars with rapt attention. In the distance, Skynet was rolling two H/K's toward the north east for some reason.
It was Sarah's first mission, and she was eager. A little too eager for Kyle and Lupe, who had been entrusted with Connor's eldest child on her first mission, and had no doubts at all about what would happen to them if she got herself killed.
"Think we can take them?" Sarah asked eagerly.
The two seasoned warriors just stared at her.
Kyle spoke first, his voice very low and cold. "Tactically dangerous. We'll be outnumbered, outgunned…"
"I know. I know." Sarah nodded. She was eager, not a fool. "So what do we do?"
"We call it in." Lupe said, pulling the radio gear, and assembling the long range transmitter, and working it while handing the handset to Sarah. "Your first run, you can call it in."
Sarah beamed. "Really!"
"You remember the codes, the call signs, all of that?" Kyle asked her, eyes never pausing.
"Yes Sir, Corporal." Sarah mocked. "Palace, Come in Palace, This is Dusty. Code one Rutabaga."
"Go ahead Dusty."
"Have spotted Skynet, heading North West Grid Reference…" Sarah glanced at her Map, and spoke again. "Zero Zero Alpha By Gamma Charlie Niner."
There was a pause on the line and suddenly Kate's voice came over. "Sarah?"
Sarah smiled a little. "Hi... Colonel." She said, catching herself before she could say 'mom' on the radio. Sarah was not blind to the value of Connor's children to Skynet in this war. Her nametag read 'Brewster' and her babysitters were under strict instructions not to say her name out in the open.
"Sarah, put Reese on."
Sarah handed the radio to Kyle. "She wants to talk to you."
Kyle gulped and took the radio. "Ma'am?"
"Kyle, I can't help but notice you're three klicks west of where you should be." Kate said conversationally.
Kyle sent Lupe a nervous look. "We… noticed some H/K tracks, and Private 'Brewster' was quite insistent that they might be important."
"I see…" Kate said. "Kyle, you know that nobody has ever actually been discharged from Tech-Com."
Kyle swallowed. "Yes Ma'am."
"Ever wonder why?"
Click. The line disconnected before Kyle could say anything else.
He handed Sarah the radio back; and gave Lupe a look. "We're dead." He told her shortly.
"We are so dead." Lupe agreed.
"Let's go home." He turned to Sarah. "Are you coming with us willingly, or do I have to use the Duct Tape?"
Connor had told them over and over again that killing Skynet was only half the war. The other half was saving the world. With the majority of the northern hemisphere now a wasteland, the Savannah of Africa and the Jungles in South America were the largest concentration of plant life that was left.
Connor had begun training people in how to prepare the dirt for growing again. They had taken these lessons and moved out in small groups, well away from the warzone; where people were few.
The weather had been altered dramatically by Judgment Day. Humanity now lived largely apart from nature itself. None of what they ate was grown in farms, and very little of it grown in dirt. Hydroponics took up less room and time. None of the children played outside. Fun was something that took place Underground, in safety. Water was filtered and recycled, harvested from deep underground sources or from collected condensation. The air they breathed was from algae scrubbers, and not from trees.
The new generation had never seen a forest, or grass, or trees, except for their guarded orchards, raising saplings.
Connor swore that would change.
The 'One Boot Brigade' was Tech-Com slang for all the soldiers wounded or ill in some way that they were no longer fit for combat duty. In any war, such things were inevitable, but there was no place in the world that they could be sent. Skynet didn't care if they were disabled in any way.
Retired from the warzone, there was still an incredible amount of work to do. Most of them were still more or less capable. Losing your hearing in one ear meant you were retired from the front, but it wasn't debilitating as an injury. Losing a leg meant you were put in a job you could do standing still or sitting down. The motor pool, the kitchens, the War Room…
Robbie looked them over as he came to the orchard. It took a while for them to notice him. The Orchard was an outdoor project, and when not on missions, most of the Human Remnant were concerned about being out in the open.
A small crowd, about fifteen people, were gathered at The Orchard. The larger trees were getting the most attention, having been there only a week. Robbie came over and called to them. "Hi. Are you guys waiting for Hernan?"
"Yes, we are."
Robbie nodded. "He can't make it. I'm teaching you today."
Silence. Connor's son was not unknown to the Underground, but he was still seven years old.
"Who told you that?"
"I did." Heads swiveled, and there was The General himself, not at all concerned. "He learned it from me, and now you'll learn it from him. If there's anything you can tell him on this subject that he doesn't already know, by all means, speak up now."
Connor stared them all down. Children were omnipresent in the Underground. They did more work than any adult of any previous generation before them.
"Robbie, the class is yours to teach."
Robbie saluted like a grown up soldier, and his father returned it seriously; leaving him to it.
Robbie turned and waved at everyone. "Okay. Everyone come with me."
Robbie led them away from the larger trees of the Orchard, over toward the edge of The Mountain, where the newer trees were. They were kept in rows of above ground swimming pools. The pools were relatively small and all half filled with soil. They were all covered in plastic sheeting which was propped up like a tent over the saplings within.
"You were all looking at the larger trees." Robbie said. "But they aren't ours. They came from The Eden Project far north. Canada still has some forest left, and they sent a few younger trees down here. You know what the difference is?"
They were listening, so Robbie showed them. He jumped up into the pool and pulled the plastic away, revealing a healthy young tree, about six feet tall. "This tree will grow into a Willow tree. When it does, it'll drop seeds, drop leaves, create mulch. If you're wondering why we're not planting it right away, the answer is under your feet." Robbie reached down and took a big handful of the deep black soil in the tank. He dropped it back down, and then jumped out of the Tank, and scuffed the dirt. The dirt on the ground was pale, thin and blew away in the omnipresent wind. "This is dirt. In the tank? That's soil. We call it Paydirt." He pointed back and forth for a moment. "Dirt. Soil. Dirt makes things messy, soil makes things grow. Everyone get the difference?"
There were nods from his 'class'.
Robbie grinned. This was a subject that he an expert on; one that he cared about. "And now," he said. "I'm going to tell you how to turn one into the other."
Robbie led them back toward the Mountain. Set into the stone wall was a series of warehouses, set up after they'd moved in, years before. In the warehouses were a variety of equipment and storage and heaters and water supplies. Huge tubs, more above ground swimming pools, all of them adapted to other uses.
The warehouse that Robbie led them into had a fragrant smell of natural rot. It was a fairly unfamiliar scent, even for those who remembered life Back Before.
Robbie led them over to some smaller tubs, with lids on them. Each tub was still as big as he was. Robbie turned to face them. "Okay. The first thing you need to make dirt into Paydirt, is the dirt itself. That sounds easy, but after J-Day, a lot of it is irradiated. That's no good. You've gotta check every inch of where you plan to grow and make sure it's clean. Dirt is really thin and light, so a breeze could send it away. Or send the hot dirt to you. You've gotta know what's around you. If you can't find any good dirt; that's fine. Look behind you."
The assorted class did so. At the other end of the warehouse were huge earth-movers, with rotors and blades on the front; cast in pure Skynet chrome. Connor was standing in front of it. "Skynet uses Machines like this to clear areas for it to work." Connor explained. "We've taken the liberty of helping ourselves to a few dozen of them. We call them the Chompers. Robbie?"
Robbie nodded and took up the tale. "A Chomper can take a field of boulders and spit out powder dust. And that's what we start with." He gestured at the huge swimming pools, now storage tanks. "Those tanks are full of Paydirt. We made it. You take some of this soil, you take it out to the sandy dirt, and you just... turn it in. You keep doing it. Now, we don't have enough to cover over the whole world... but that's where these little guys come in." With that, Robbie lifted the cover off one of the tubs, and everyone recoiled a little. The tubs were all full of worms.
Robbie reached in and pulled out a handful of dirt from the tub. The dirt in his hand was wriggling with the worms in it. Robbie grinned at them, loving this. "Earthworms do more to fix the world than we ever will. These little guys are worth their weight in coffee." He dropped them back in and sealed up the tub. "Bugs and insects, especially the worms, are what make dirt into soil. So nobody kills any bugs and worms!" Robbie turned so fierce with that last part, that nobody had any doubts who his father was. "Except mosquitoes. Kill as many of those as you can get away with."
Everyone laughed a little cruelly. Mosquitoes were the death of people these days.
While they settled, Robbie went over to the next Tank. He didn't bother to uncover it. There was no way for him to reach. "These tanks are full of manure, and organics. Anything food, any part of food that's not edible. All that goes into these tanks. This stuff is bread and water to earthworms. You know how dad told you that trees take in smoke and stuff and make air? Earthworms and bugs take garbage and turn them into soil. The Eden Project is worm makers." Robbie pointed to the maps on the other side of the warehouse. "Now. Here's where we're working now. Places Skynet hasn't gone; and doesn't care about." The map was of what used to be called North and South America. Various points were marked in green. "Now, for a big field, you can plant the earthworms in so that they'll make more worms faster…"
Connor watched his son proudly from far enough away that he couldn't be a distraction.
Kate slid in next to him silently. "He looks good."
"He does."
"We got word from Checkpoint Baker." Kate said softly. "They're on their way home."
Connor relaxed. "Good. Any problems?"
"Coffee and cake run."
Z Plus Ten Years Fifty Five Days
Sarah signed in, and was immediately summoned to the War Room.
A few people who heard the announcement smirked. The 'Surprise Party' for a soldier's Trail By Battle Ceremony had long since stopped being even the slightest surprise to anyone. Sarah was the Connor's eldest child, so it was bound to be big.
Kyle and Lupe sent her on ahead. They had been invited of course, but had agreed to be a few minutes late.
A few minutes after signing in, Lupe slipped into a supply closet. Kyle joined her a moment later, and the two met in a passionate kiss almost before the door closed.
Lupe felt the sensation furry caterpillars all over her face and shoved him away instantly. "Yuck!"
"Yuck?" Kyle repeated, aghast.
Lupe got a sudden fit of the giggles. "Sorry Kyle, but it's been a while since we got the chance to... well, you know... and you need a shave."
Kyle was stunned, rubbing his face. "I… I do?" A veteran of uncounted battles, survivor of endless life and death scenarios, Kyle Reese had never needed a shave before.
Lupe giggled some more, and Kyle couldn't help but laugh with her. She apparently got over it, leaning forward and kissing him deeply. "Having the General's daughter with us… it's like going into the field with an aunt along." She murmured and kissed him again.
After several seconds, they broke for air. "Got news for you." Kyle said happily. "She wasn't nearly as unaware as she pretended to be."
Lupe flushed. "Really?"
"They like you Lupe. She won't tell. And when her brother goes out hunting, neither will he."
Lupe kissed him again. "We should hurry. If we're away from the party too long…"
"Nobody will care." Kyle assured her.
"Sarah will. She'll want to know why you weren't at the Trial by Battle."
Kyle pulled back. "Right." Sarah was family. You were there for your family. "Well then, I guess we should... go."
Lupe kissed him again quickly. "Wish upon a star Kyle. It won't be long."
Kyle smiled softly as they headed out. 'Wish Upon a Star' was their little secret after their first mission.
"I kiss you, and you say 'Yuck'?" Kyle said after a while.
Lupe smiled secretly.
The Trial By Battle ceremony ended, as they usually did, with the newly crowd soldier being cheered and all but passed around the Unit. Connor's daughter wasn't given any special treatment, other than the other soldiers working to keep her identity secret when in the field, and there were other soldiers being recognized that day; but it was always a special occasion.
Kyle and Lupe slipped in during the speech, and were the first ones to congratulate Sarah. Robbie was right behind them.
Kate sidled up to Kyle. "Do I want to know why you were late?"
Kyle glanced around. "Just had some things to catch up on."
"Mm-Hm." Kate was not fooled. She got a look at him. "Kyle, you need a shave."
"So I hear. Do... do you know how to?"
"Sorry sweetie, you've gotta talk to a guy for that one." She leaned in a little. "How'd Sarah do out there?"
"Like a fish to a water tank." He checked to see if anyone was able to overhear. "Don't worry mom. She's got what it takes."
Kate smiled at him secretly. He still called her 'mom' from time to time when nobody was close enough to overhear. "Good." She drew in a breath. "What remains to be seen however, is if her father has what it takes to send her out again."
Kate could tell that Connor had frozen his face into a mask. He was barely holding it together. She wondered for a moment if anyone else but her could tell, and decided not to risk it. Sarah was now surrounded by people wishing her well, and there was bound to be a perfectly good reason to disappear. She slid her arm into his and pulled him away from the crowd.
"So, how you holding up Connor?" Kate asked him as soon as they were out of the room.
"Remember when Lupe had her first run?" Connor asked blandly. "I told you to take notes, because I'd be in the same state."
"I remember. I also remember that I didn't believe that for a second." Kate snorted. "And I still don't. So what's really bothering you?"
Silence as they walked back toward their quarters.
"I didn't ask." Connor said finally.
"Ask?"
"I didn't ask our bodyguard. In the graveyard, when you ran away, I told him to let you go. He said that you were important to the resistance. He said that our children had a role to play. I flipped out at the word 'children'." Connor sighed. "I didn't ask. I didn't ask if they lived."
Kate went cold. She had been thinking about it too, trying to sort out what they knew of the future any longer.
"At the time, it was because I didn't want to hear it. I didn't want to hear that Judgment Day was real, and I was going to be in charge…" Connor just looked at her with the infamous Connor Guilt written across his face. "What a horrible thing for me to think. We have two children. A son and a daughter. We have two beautiful wonderful perfect kids and I didn't want to know about it; and I didn't even ask what would happen to them. I had access to someone who knew the future, and I didn't even ask what happened to my family. What a selfish despicable way for me to think."
Kate just stared at him for a moment. He'd had the tendency to go dark since he was ten years old. Not for the first time, she wondered if his mother ever tried to snap him out of it like she did. "John." She said finally. "I didn't ask either. At the time… I was still engaged to another man. Being your wife seemed like a…" She paused. "Well…"
"You can say it." John smiled a bit.
"A fate worse than death." Kate confessed quickly. She pulled him tightly to her. "I don't feel that way any more."
Connor breathed her in gently. The corridor to the Presidential Suite was fairly secluded and defensible. They had their privacy. "Kate, every so often I stop and realize just how unthinkably lucky I am to have you. Ever since I was a kid I knew I'd be alone. It didn't bother me. It was just a fact of my life… Now I try to imagine my life without you, and the picture always ends with me putting a gun in my mouth the day this war ends."
Kate kissed him deeply. "I try to think about my life if I'd never met you, and it always ends with me being vaporized about ten years ago."
Connor snorted. "Yeah."
"I don't blame you for not asking. It was a different world then. No Fate But What We Make. Right?"
"Right."
Silence.
"There are advantages to not having asked, you know." Kate said finally.
"What's that?"
"Well, if we don't know how many kids we have in one timeline, we don't have to worry about messing things up in this one."
Connor stared at her. "Are you…"
Kate smiled. "No. But Sarah and Robbie are going to be busy having a party for a little while, and the War Room will assume we're both there…"
Connor took the hint finally, and led the way into their room, Kate kissing him sweetly...
...where they found Kyle Reese waiting for them.
Kate 'eeped' a little at the surprise and broke the kiss swiftly. "Kyle. Didn't we just leave you at the party?"
Kyle looked down, mortified. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt-"
Kate flushed. She and Connor traded a look. Always on duty.
"It's all right. And anyway, I know you'd want to be back there, so you came in here for a reason Kyle. So what's up?" Connor said.
Kyle glanced at Kate, who quickly got the point. "I'm needed elsewhere. Probably." She headed out, went as far as the door, and turned back to listen in.
"What's up Kyle?"
"I um... I need help with something." He looked embarrassed that he had to ask. "I wanted to figure it out before the party ended. Before..."
"Before Lupe could find out?" Connor teased, and Kate smiled, unseen.
Kyle reacted. "Does the whole Base know?"
"Crystal Peak is pretty big Kyle, but when it comes to gossip, it gets real small, real fast." Connor smirked. "What do you need?"
Five minutes later, Kyle and Connor were gathered around a pan of hot water. "Okay." Connor said. "First you wet your face with the water. Hot water works best."
Kyle splashed his face in the hot water, and held the razor carefully. Kate was still listening at the door, with a silly smile on her face.
"Now, we got the soap? You don't need too much. Like everything else, it's hard to find, but you're new at this, so we'll splurge."
Kyle flushed. "Thank you sir."
"Now, ready?"
Kyle nodded.
"Remember, you don't need to press real hard. Always against the grain."
Kate couldn't help it. She peeked around the corner and got a look at her husband giving the teenage kid a lesson in how to shave. She couldn't help but smile at the picture.
"Did your dad teach you how to do this?" Kyle asked as he drew the razor back carefully.
"No, actually Enrique did, but I was way too young to need a shave. I think he was just teasing me." He paused. "Nearly shredded my face."
Kate slipped back and left them to themselves. Kyle had come to her so often she thought of him as a son. After their little agreement in LA, he even called her 'mom' sometimes when they were alone. She knew that another few years would see her husband doing this with Robbie. All his worry about being bad with kids, and Connor had seamlessly become the father figure to all the Human Race; and to Kyle in particular. They looked good together. Almost like...
Kate blinked. And looked again. And then blinked again.
And her eyes bulged.
Skynet To All Units:
Test Fire of Project 14128542 Commencing.
All Units In Former North and South American Continents Set To Emergency Backups Until Reactivation Code.
Project 14128542 Charging.
Connor and his lieutenants were having a walking meeting. "The food situation is getting beyond bad."
Connor nodded. "I know. We're expanding the Eden Project, but even our best projections say that'll take too long. I might have an idea on that, but at best it's still going to take a while. Where are we on finding the Infiltrator factories?"
"We've been comparing information about where they came from, when they joined on with the units they came in with, things like that."
"Lori's on the line." Someone else piped up. "She wants to talk to you about salvaging. I guess he's feeling the pinch too."
"Lori wants to talk about Ammo supplies. She can salvage her own growing material right where she is. Tell her I said we'll get her something, she'll know that I get where she's coming from."
The meeting had reached Connor's office where Kate was waiting at his desk, doing a long slow boil.
"You cold-hearted, amoral, judgmental, two faced, Machiavellian bastard." Kate snarled the second the whole company walked in.
Nuclear silence.
"Should we step out?" Walters asked.
"Sure sounds like it." Connor agreed.
Connor's entire command staff fled the room and John turned to his wife the second the door closed. "All right Kate, I just put the Resistance on hold. What's on your mind?"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
Kate was ranting. If she was listening at all it was hard to tell. "I mean it, what possible reason... I mean… why didn't you tell me? Of all people!"
"And I still don't know what you're talking about."
"Kyle!"
John paled. "Oh."
"Oh? That's what you've got? Oh?" Kate snapped. "Did you think I would be mad at you? Did you think I would make you send him away?"
"The thought occurred."
"I'm not that cold John. Family means something. I had to let go of two fathers, to say nothing of what we went through to get Sarah in our lives... Did you think I wouldn't figure it out eventually? Did you think I would hate you for having a son?"
John blinked. "What?"
"I mean... what you said in Crystal Peak, about how I was your only kiss... that was sweet, and given your life, I could even believe it... but I wouldn't have thought any less of you if you'd told me the truth; and it wouldn't have changed my feelings for you that day! Of course you had to leave him behind. Of course you had to hide any connection and stay away from him, and even that's assuming you knew he existed before J-Day in the first place. You could have told me!"
John was staring at her with his best poker face on. He gave away nothing. It would not have worked. Not on her. Not for a second. But Kate wasn't trying to read him. She was still ranting.
"John... Sarah and Robbie would have loved to know they had an older brother. They love him like a big brother already! They wouldn't care that he wasn't both of ours! All the surrogacy in the Mountain, it's hardly any different!"
John considered letting that go. It would neatly explain every question Kate ever had about his relationship to the young Kyle Reese...
Everything went black. The lights simply stopped working. Being underground, they were suddenly blind.
They waited for a moment and the lights didn't come back on.
"Aren't the floodlights on their own circuit?" John asked.
"Supposed to be."
In the darkness, she could hear him trying to work the radio. "War Room, come in."
No answer.
"Radio's offline too. Something happened."
Skynet To All Units
Test Fire Complete. Reactivation Code: QGBB95274HYERT-45JMBN9766DFRDSFAW
Experiment Failed. Information Gathered.
Energy Discharge Extreme. Dampers Sub-Standard. Total 42,305 Units Offline.
Human Equipment Also Vulnerable To These Discharges.
Tactical Analysis: 64% Chance that Tech-Com will attempt to exploit Weakness to Discharges. Unacceptable risk.
Begin Disassembly Immediately. Remove all Equipment, Recordings and Sensitive Intel.
End Transmission
Connor found his way to his gear and started searching through it. He found a glowstick and cracked it, filling the room with a ghostly green glow.
Kate was gritting her teeth. "There's always something more important, isn't there?"
Connor sighed. "Kate…"
"No, I'm serious. Whatever it is, it's no doubt more important. Let's go. We'll settle our thing later."
It was enough for Connor. He took off in a hurry toward the War Room. Kate followed, still seething. She hated the timing, but every soldier knew: Things trying to kill you right this second have priority.
The lights were out in the Tunnels too. Connor could see parts of the room illuminated by various glowsticks. The people in the Tunnels were heading toward the light, grouping together.
Flashlights started working, and more light was cast. The sight of the torches working helped. Equipment failure was far less terrifying than any number of other things that might be happening.
But inwardly, Connor was more worried by the sight of the working flashlights. They work but the watches and the radios don't? What happened?
"Report!" Connor said on the way into the War Room.
"Power's out to the entire base. We're getting reports of overloads." Walters said first thing.
"The entire base went black at once, all four generators. We sent runners to the Generator rooms; the guards have all been verified, it wasn't sabotage." Noah added.
"Well the Generators are pretty much nothing more than a dozen Terminator batteries hooked up." Connor said. "We know it affected them and the radios..."
"Electro Magnetic Pulse? An EMP would knock out anything with a circuit."
"Negative." Noah interrupted. "The batteries are all working. Techs say that the… whatever it was overloaded the circuits between the Batteries and the equipment. They're working on it now."
"And the flashlights are working." Connor said. "An EMP that strong wouldn't miss anything. Besides, how many weapons have we salvaged and used against Skynet? An EMP would do more against Skynet than it would against us." Connor sighed. "This is something else. The Techs have any ideas?"
"Well… that's the thing." Walters said. "Most of the equipment we'd use to get the problem diagnosed and solved… is currently offline."
Connor sighed. "Is there seriously nothing on this base left disconnected?"
"Nothing useful to us now." Noah summed up, as one of the Tunnel Rats ran into the War Room and handed her a note, darting out again immediately. "Motor Pool says they're trying to get the backup generators running. They've got a few jeeps working; and they're trying to jump start the Base."
"We're using the radios in the jeeps. Reports are coming in. Half the North American Theater is offline. Without some equipment up and running fast we're completely vulnerable."
"Damn. What kind of weapon could do this?" Noah asked.
"This isn't a weapon." Connor said immediately. "If it we're, we'd be under attack right now." Connor studied the map. "This is something else… Relay orders out to the furthest units we've got. Tell them to start Recon."
"What are they looking for?"
"Dead Machines."
"Connor, NO!" Noah said for the twelfth time in two minutes. "I know that those words are considered blasphemy down here, but I mean it: Connor, NO!"
"We need working equipment. They're the only Machines on the base that are permanently in 'Off' mode."
"There's a reason for that!"
Connor keyed the door code. With the power off, the door did not open. Connor sighed. "Can we just kick it down?"
"A security door? We'd need C4 to get through it." Noah said. "Consider it a hint. The universe is saying 'Connor, NO!'."
The lights came on suddenly.
Connor sighed, and turned away from the door. Noah followed him, not bothering to hide the relief on her face. "Good choice sir."
"Why this one?" Connor asked her quietly. "Level with me. We use captured Machines all the time. Why is the thought of reprogramming the Infiltrators so much worse?"
Noah just stared at the back of his head. "You really have to ask that?" She retorted. "You know, and I know, that we don't allow Machines to do any work that involves people. They smash Machines, they record reports, they break codes, they lift heavy things and they punch keys. You're always talking about trying to keep our humanity. A Machine surgeon would be more accurate, but we don't let them work in Medbay. A Machine guard would be tireless and always on duty, but we don't post them as guards. We just don't. Infiltrators are worse than that. You know this. You have to know this."
Connor glanced at her. She was getting way too intense about this. She cooled off and was instantly back to normal as she became aware of his scrutiny.
"General Connor to the War Room." The PA announced. "Oh, and the PA is working again sir."
Connor started walking and lifted his radio. "Walters, come back?"
"Walters here."
"Eric, the radios are working too." Connor told him.
"I guess we can officially rule out EMP then."
"Looks like it was an electrical discharge." Walters reported. "Motor Pool has confirmed it wasn't an EMP. It was just… it's like having a lightning strike close by. The circuit got overloaded by the rush of energy."
"What in the name of fried Emergency Rations on toast can put out that much current?" Noah wondered.
Connor was notably silent. Kate was watching him out of the corner of her eye.
"Noah, Walters…" Connor said slowly. "Do we have communications back up or not?"
"We're getting there. Bases are reporting in, the mobile units are coming a little slower." Walters reported. "And you were right. Skynet was hit too. There's actually something of a semi-No Man's Land along Sector Nine."
"Our bases are reporting situation normal." Noah added. "Looks like everything human is starting up again. Skynet's Machines however, are not."
"Why not?" Kate asked. "If our equipment can recover, why can't they?"
"That's the big question." Connor agreed. "When we've got everyone, tell them to send back the CPU's from the nearest dead Machines they can find."
Kate looked at him. "What exactly are you looking for?"
"Skynet didn't attack." Connor explained. "If this was planned, they would have hit us everywhere the second everything switched off. And they didn't. Which means they didn't know it was happening. Most of the technology damaged, namely the power sources, are fed by Terminator batteries, so that we can save the fuel for the vehicles. So… If Skynet didn't see this coming, they wouldn't have hardened their own power sources. If we took damage across everything in the North American Theater…"
"Sonofabitch." Noah grinned. "Then so did they."
"Does that mean Skynet blew itself up? Is… is the war over?" Walters asked.
"No." Connor said quickly, before that little thought could get out. "We lost primary and back up generators, we lost communications. We kept medical, we kept the refrigerators, and we kept the motor pool. We're still hearing from our Scrubbed Machines. If they're still standing, so is Skynet."
"How do we know what escaped the blast?"
"Anything still shooting at us escaped the blast." Kate offered.
"What can put out so much juice that it just… shorts out half the northern hemisphere?" Noah asked.
Kate glanced at Connor again. He wasn't speaking. "People are asking questions." She said aloud. "Connor, you've gotta give them something, or they'll start making stuff up."
" We don't have any answers yet." Noah retorted.
"Kate, with me. Everyone else, do… whatever it is we should be doing." Connor ordered; and followed his wife out of the War Room.
"You think it's the Time Machine, don't you?" Kate asked, the second they left earshot.
"I don't know." Connor said darkly. "It's… Time travel was supposed to be the last ditch effort. We aren't there yet. This… it might be. I don't know."
"If it is…" Kate asked him. "What happens then?"
Connor sighed. "I don't know. Skynet used it three times. Two of them to send Machines we haven't seen yet. Maybe… maybe I've been wrong all this time. I don't know."
"So what's the next move?" Kate asked.
Connor was silent a long time, as Kate just stared at him. Uncertain Connor was something unusual. He always knew what to do.
"We have to find out for sure." Connor said finally. "We have to find where that pulse came from."
"And then?"
"It's a Time Machine Kate. We'll have all the time in the world to decide what to do then."
Silence.
"John…" Kate said finally. "If it is… If we take the Time Machine… maybe we should… I mean, we're here. We could send back… What if we could stop this?"
Connor stared at her. "Change the past?"
"You always said… No Fate But What We Make."
Connor bit his lip. "I spent twenty years guessing and second guessing how to use a Time Machine that didn't exist… I don't know."
Kate kicked herself. She forgot sometimes that her husband had to live with this war a lot longer than anyone else had. "We'll handle it." She said firmly. "And about Kyle…"
Connor tensed. "Kate…"
She shushed him, putting her fingertips over his lips gently. "Shh. I trust you. I love you. I don't know what the whole story is, and I'll keep what I know a secret."
"You will?" Connor said in surprise.
"John, when Sarah goes out on missions now, our guys have orders not to say her last name out loud, just in case. You think its hard being John Connor? How hard is it to be his kid?" Kate had known much of Connor's life from her first month in Crystal Peak. If he hadn't told her about Kyle... or who his mother was, then it was logical he didn't talk about it for a reason. Knowing as she did the tendency of the people he loved to die brutally, she knew better than to make him relive it. Especially since she was now his wife.
Connor couldn't help but smirk a little as he read these thoughts on her face. "If Skynet ever found the connection between me and Sarah… or me and Kyle…"
Kate shushed him again. "I'm a Connor now too. I know the family secrets. And that's why I'll sit on this one. But Kyle worships you. Don't… I don't know. But our kids love him. I don't know what will happen if we mess with this, but until we do…"
Connor felt such an overwhelming sense of relief, love, and guilt wash over him. "I don't deserve you Kate."
"I know, but I've learned to live with it." She teased gently.
Silence.
"Before the lights came back on, I was going to wake up the Infiltrators; put them to work." Connor said quietly.
Kate shuddered. "Good thing you didn't." She said. "The lights go out and the Machines rise from their crates? Everyone would think we had lost the war."
Connor scrubbed his face. "Why is this worse?" He asked. "What makes them so damn scary compared to every other Machine we use?"
Kate just looked at him. "You're kidding, right?"
Connor was honestly lost. "No. Everyone assumes I am, but I'm serious. Help me understand this."
Kate glanced around. "You're too close to the Infiltrators Connor. You are way too close. It was Infiltrators that killed my father, and Scott, and who knows how many other people in the way... Even the one sent as my Bodyguard started by kidnapping me. I was scared to death of him. It."
"An Infiltrator killed my father too." Connor pointed out, somewhat awkward. "And my foster parents."
"A man you never met, and people you never liked. Your mom saw them the way we do. How did she react to your bodyguard when you were ten?"
Connor sighed again and gave a nod, conceding the point.
"What was it you said about the 850? 'The closest thing to a father you ever had'? You are way too close. Infiltrators are worse because... they don't just kill. They lie. All Skynet's children kill until there's nothing left for them to kill, and then they go and find something else to kill. The Infiltrators... they lie to you. They smile and nod, and touch you and shake your hand and then they walk past you and start killing again. They're worse than the other Machines because they break the rules. Machines don't have subtlety, only strength. And we can beat that. Those are the rules of this war, and you taught them to us. How do we beat the guy standing behind us? The skeleton Machines, we reprogram them and they leave us alone because we tell them to. They do what they are told. What we tell them or what Skynet tells them, it's all the same. Infiltrators are a lie. How can we trust them when they say they've been reprogrammed?"
Connor sighed. "Sooner or later, we'll have to bring them online. If only because we found The Time Machine."
Kate nodded. "John, the first time you met a Machine, he was trying to save your life. The second Machine was trying to kill you. Just like people. Just like humans. They look human, and some want to help you, some want to harm. I've met Enrique. The Machines you met as a kid treated you the exact same way your mom's boyfriends treated you. Some want to help, some want to hurt." Kate took his hands in her own. "Well they aren't like people John. They're the Grim Reapers."
Connor shivered. They were talking about his family. Sarah's name couldn't be spoken, his father couldn't be known, his almost father-figure was a Grim Reaper, offline in a box downstairs... He really didn't deserve her.
Connor's radio buzzed. "Sir, Brain Box is still with us too."
"On my way." Connor responded, not taking his eyes off Kate. "A day is going to come when we have to trust them. You know that."
"I do." Kate said quietly. "But I think that it will be a terrible day. Love you husband."
"Love you wife."
"Skynet equipment would be more vulnerable to high energy discharge." Brain Box reported dutifully. "Skynet Power Sources have a much higher yield than human construction. That power is used in larger amounts than human equipment can draw; which is why newer units can fire such powerful blasts so often."
"That's why their units fried. The blast just pushed it over the top." Noah said quietly. "Why did any of their units survive?"
"Skynet Tech has high energy draw as a standard operation setting, but it is not required every minute. Any unit currently using lower levels of power may have survived the energy spike."
"Which is why our generators and antenna shut down but our flashlights and stationary vehicles didn't." Connor concluded. "Brain Box, what does Skynet have that can put out that kind of power?"
"Unknown."
Z Plus Ten Years Fifty Seven Days
Skynet sent a few attacks at Units that took longer to get working again. Connor knew where they all were and sent Fighter Jets to protect the ones that weren't responding to radio calls. Skynet was quickly stopped, and the war continued where it left off.
After two days, the most distant Machines were found, taken apart, and the CPU chips sent back to Crystal Peak.
Connor uploaded the incoming chips to Brain Box; who scanned through them quickly.
"No directives, no memory files." Brain Box reported instantly. "Basic Skynet Operating System only. Hard-wired Data Only."
"Scrubbed cleaner than we can make them." Noah said. "Like sticking a disk in a microwave."
"Brain Box." Connor directed. "I don't need their missions. I need their Internal Clock. Now that's part of the Operating System, right?"
"Affirmative."
"I need the exact shutdown time of every CPU we just sent you, and the location of each chip."
"What are you looking for?" Noah asked, intrigued.
"Skynet had every Machine working from the same clock, with its typical precision. If the pulse fried them; we can figure out the exact second each Machine went dark. The earliest ones to die were closest to the source." Connor explained.
"Pretty slick." Noah admitted.
Enrique came in to see Connor as the orders went out.
"We've been getting nothing from down South." He told Connor quietly. "There's been some kind of a shake-up, but we've heard nothing from our guys."
Connor swore under his breath. "The Union is keeping our people out of the loop."
"No, I mean... I've heard nothing." Enrique repeated. "I don't think they're out of the loop, I think that they're out of the equation."
Connor sighed.
Enrique glanced around and leaned in to speak privately. "Is it the Time Machine?"
"Kate thinks so. I don't know, but I think it might be."
"Have you told Kate about Kyle?"
"There's actually an interesting development on that."
"Oh?"
"Kate's finally noticed the resemblance. She thinks he's my son."
Beat.
Enrique let out a long coyote laugh at that one. "Ohhhh, man. Just when you thought coming clean couldn't be any more awkward huh?"
Connor smirked sickly. "Yeah."
"You'll have to tell her the truth eventually."
Connor turned to look at him square. "Have you told Lupe?"
Enrique was caught by surprise on that one; and seethed for a long moment. "The longer this goes... the more ways that our women will find to make us pay for keeping secrets."
Connor smirked mirthlessly. "I know. But... Kyle's not ready. I don't know that I am either; and Kate never will be."
Enrique wavered. "And Lupe?"
Connor wouldn't say it, but if anything his mother had told him was to be believed... Lupe would not be part of Kyle's life by then. And based on how things seemed to be now, it would likely take her death to do that... "I don't know."
"I know you think Kyle is too young for the timeline to match… but your mother was what? Nineteen? Maybe a little older when she met her first Terminator? I don't know any seventeen year old kid that doesn't look and act at least forty years older any more."
"Me neither." Connor conceded.
Enrique shivered and leaned hard against the wall, looking old. "Y'know Connor... I was at Sarah's Trial By Battle the other day... And I couldn't help but notice something."
"What's that?"
"That Lupe isn't eight years old any more."
Connor smiled sympathetically. "I've noticed that too."
"Think Kyle's noticed?"
"If he hasn't then she's doing something wrong."
Enrique slugged him. "That's my granddaughter you're talking about."
"Hasn't Yolanda had this talk with you yet?" Connor said lightly. "The average first time mother now is Lupe's age. Sixteen was the new twenty five even before J-Day. I don't know how to tell you this, but your granddaughter is very likely… shall we say..."
"We shall not say."
"As you wish."
Z Plus Ten Years Fifty Eight Days
The information came in. The pulse had moved swiftly. There was only a few seconds difference between both ends of the shockwave. But Skynet's clocks counted down to the millisecond, and Connor's people were able to track it back to the South East.
"Puerto Rico." Noah said finally. "Unless there's some big Skynet ship out there, it's the only land mass in that direction."
Enrique stepped in and added another notation to the map. "From Tomal Rojas, Governor of the Cartel Union."
"I thought Harlan was Governor of the Union." Noah said.
"That was last week." He sent Connor a look. "I get a bad feeling about how fast power changes hands down south."
Connor nodded. "Hmm. We may have to send you back down there to sort them out."
"I was afraid you'd say that." Enrique sighed as Sherrin took in the new time and location, redrawing the map.
"If it helps, I take no pleasure in making you baby-sit." Connor assured him.
"There's the pleasure you get of not having to do it yourself." Enrique snarled.
"Bingo." Sherrin interrupted. "It is Puerto Rico. Somewhere south of Arecibo, I think."
"What's there?" Noah asked.
"Let's find out." Connor said evenly.
The mood changed instantly. A new mission. Game Faces.
"Who do we send?" Walters asked.
"Connor's Own as always is on standby. The 144th is close by on maneuvers; and the 132nd just got back." Kate offered.
Connor turned and glared at her. She glared right back.
Colonel Perry was the 132nd's Commanding Officer. A veteran of several battles, his face was harder than his heart. As all those who survived till now; he was smart, practical and tough.
Lupe and Kyle came into his dorm at a march, and saluted. "Corporals Reese and Salceda reporting as ordered sir."
Perry returned the salute. "With the new Privates graduating to Runners, Spotters and Scouts, we're moving people up. My Battalion took four casualties retaking Hill 454. I'm told that you two have what it takes to survive, and more importantly, to protect the soldier next to you. Do you agree with that assessment?"
"Yes Sir." Both young people chorused.
"There are rules. One, you don't waste anything. Supplies sometimes take weeks to reach us from Allied Units. Two, you keep your gloves and boots on at all times. Taking off frostbitten fingers and toes is relatively easy, but we can't waste time teaching you to walk again when we're out in the field. Three, put your equipment and weapons in for maintenance every time you report back here to Palace. All that equipment is hard to replace. Throw in the half pack of cigarettes your miserable hides are worth and that can run into a large sum. Four, don't flirt, sleep with, or invite along anyone you meet out there. Ever. That goes for both of you. Female infiltrators have been showing up more and more often lately. Skynet's adapting the endo-skeletons. Think you can follow those rules?"
"Yes Sir." They both responded again.
Perry smiled at them. "Then both of you get your packs. You're not in the Kiddie Barracks any longer. From now on, you're with the 132nd. If you do badly, you'll get killed; either by Skynet, or by me, as punishment for failing to protect the rest of your unit. If you do well, you get to live a life of danger, the only wages being freeze dried food three times a day, with little to no recognition outside your Unit for all the hard work, and the constant threat of dying a cold wretched death out in the Wastelands. However you also get the chance to protect your fellow soldiers, to beat back Skynet, and to protect our people from certain death. And for a soldier, that is the highest calling."
Lupe and Kyle were still at attention, barely moving, though their soldiers straightened.
"Colonel Perry, report to the War Room." Connor called over the PA.
Perry nodded. "I have to go. Be ready to move you two. A call to the War Room generally means a mission. You're with us now."
"Yes sir." Lupe and Kyle chorused.
"Welcome to the 132nd." Perry told them, and headed off to answer his summons.
Kyle leaned over to Lupe. "What does 'assessment' mean?"
Lupe shrugged. "Dunno. Let's get our gear stowed fast; I need a new grip for my rifle."
"I told you to stop fiddling with it."
"Can you spare choppers for everyone?"
"We can, but we're not going to. We don't have a lot of Intel on what you're walking into there, so we're playing it safe for as long as we can. Skynet will be sure to notice half our Air Force carrying the entire Task Force, so we're going to split you up; take different routes."
"Understood sir."
"You are to head to Key Largo, and from there your Task Force will be split up into three groups. Halloway's Subs will take group one, group two will take a smuggling trawler from Lori's trade route; and the third will go via helicopter to Havana. The Cartel Union has a presence there, and they've agreed to arrange transport to Puerto Rico via Port-au-Prince. You'll rendezvous in Arecibo. From there you'll have to figure things out, because we can't be more accurate than the Island at this point."
"Understood sir."
Kyle and Lupe collected their things quickly. Upon becoming soldiers, they left the Tunnel Rats and took their place in the Soldier's Dorms. The 132nd was like most Units in Tech-Com. A combination of young and old more or less hanging out between missions. All of them thin and strong and always watching everything. The two newcomers were the youngest by far.
Everyone noticed them, but nobody said a word to them for a time. Someone gestured at two bunks toward the back of the Dorm, and they set their things down.
"My grandfather was in the Army long ago." Lupe said quietly to Kyle. "He said that soldiers were a lot louder then. Now they're very quiet. Staying hidden and saving calories he says."
"What's 'calories'?" Kyle asked.
"Food power."
They both turned. An adult soldier, though still younger than average was talking to them. "I'm Griffin."
Kyle and Lupe introduced themselves.
"So, you're the Fresh Meat huh?"
Lupe took a step back.
Griffin smirked. "Sorry. Old expression. We don't eat our guys." He sent Lupe an imperious gaze. "Not yet anyway."
Lupe flushed. "Sorry. I've heard stories…"
"None of them about Tech-Com." Griffin insisted. "You guys ever fought in a Battalion before?"
Lupe and Kyle shook their heads.
"Sometimes the brass will call for one or two people for a priority mission. Otherwise, there are times when we have to split up and fight in pairs or teams, and times when we have to fight as a whole. You guys are a Scout party, so you know how to do the first. The second you'll learn; but for now you stay behind the Officers. They keep a pretty good eye on new guys." Griffin explained. "Just remember, you're with us now. When you screw up, we pay; when we win a victory, you're heroes. And in between, there are three rules. Never mouth off to the veterans; you get the bottom bunks at the back of the room until somebody more experienced gets promoted or killed; and their beds open up; and three…" He gestured over a rail thin kid taking a nap. "Don't get between Mikey and a chow line."
Lupe and Kyle nodded seriously at that one. Mikey had been sneaking the Tunnel Rats extra rations for months.
"Ten-Hut!" Called a voice.
Everyone jumped to attention.
"Alright, listen up!" Perry's voice cut across the room sharp as a knife. "The power got knocked out by a high energy discharge. Intel says that it was nothing ever seen before. Connor says that it managed to wipe out half the theater. Skynet took it worse than us; so we know it isn't an attack. Skynet's brewing something in Puerto Rico. We have a new mission. Two battalions; Us and the 144th will be the first Recon team. Colonel Noah will be leading the Mission. Our orders are to Recon the route between here and the Target, get an idea of how much of Skynet survived, and identify what caused the blast. We don't know what the defenses will be like, or what the facility is. Keep your eyes open all the way there and back. Mission Clock is at T-minus one hour. I want us ready to move out in forty-five minutes."
The 132nd was ready to roll out. The soldiers were all in the troop carriers, with half a dozen heavy armored vehicles rolling with them.
"Hold it! Hold the convoy!"
The soldiers in the trucks reacted. A few of them leaned out to take a look. Carla was running up to the front of the Convoy, toward the lead Jeep. She stuck her head into it for a moment, and Perry got out to have a quick private word with her.
"That's a bad sign." Griffin commented.
"No kidding." Kyle agreed. "I've got a bad feeling."
Perry and Carla had finished their conversation, and Perry turned and pointed at one of the Troop Carriers. The last one in the row, where Kyle and Griffin were watching from.
"Bad Sign." Griffin repeated.
"Got a Real Bad Feeling." Kyle agreed seriously.
"What? What's happening?" Lupe demanded from behind them, forcing them out of the way enough for her to get a look.
Carla saw her and came running up. "Lupe. Good, I was worried I wouldn't catch you. You're not going."
Lupe took that badly. "WHAT?"
"What?" Kyle said almost with her.
"We've been going through the standard medical tests. Private Danes has the measles."
"So?"
"So you've all been exposed to it. Lupe, you're the only one that's been exposed and hasn't had the measles already." Carla said seriously. "You will likely be getting seriously ill halfway through this mission."
Perry was looking gravely at Lupe. "Corporal, I take no pleasure in it, but that's a lousy time to get a fever. You know what the weather is like outside." Perry sighed. "I'm sorry. You're currently under Medical Jurisdiction."
Lupe took it like a kick to the head. "I feel fine!"
"That will change." Carla assured her.
Lupe looked about, trying to think what to do. An answer came to her. "No. I'm gonna get Colonel Kate to overrule you."
Perry glared. Carla looked barely surprised.
"It's my right to do that, right?" Lupe pressed.
Carla nodded. "Yeah. Yeah it is."
The 132nd got organized to leave, as Perry and Carla had a brief pointed conference with Colonel Kate Connor. Lupe had made her case, given her reasons, and was asked to wait outside for a moment.
Perry came out first, as Kate and Carla went over Lupe's test results in Medbay.
"Corporal, nobody is going to think you chickened out." Perry told her. "The people in this place that don't pull their weight, or complain too much are all well known. People like that don't last very long. If you were like that, I never would have let you into my Unit. This will pass."
Lupe was staring at the floor. "I know. But… It's the first mission. It's gotta be bad luck somehow."
"Worse luck if you get sick enough to get shot." Perry countered. "And not for nothing, but if it wasn't your first mission with us, we wouldn't even be having this conversation."
"Sir?"
"The whole Unit is currently waiting for one or both of us. If it was anything else, I'd be tearing strips out of you for holding up the Mission."
Lupe swallowed, as Kate came back out.
"Lupe, I'm sorry. You're not going." Kate told Lupe gently. "I'm looking at your file, and I'm forced to agree with your doctor; the risk is too great."
"I feel fine!"
"I'm looking at the file Lupe, it's not a mistake."
Lupe crumpled like a kid would, and then straightened up, hard and unforgiving as a veteran should be. "Fine. Permission to be dismissed?" She said shortly.
"Granted." Kate allowed her, and the girl took off instantly.
Perry glanced after her. "Are you going to tell her?" He asked Carla.
"When you're away." Carla promised.
"No. I will." Kate said suddenly.
Perry nodded. "Ma'am…" He said delicately, keeping it professional. "Is Corporal Reese-"
"Very likely." Kate agreed. "Bring him back alive, would you?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Mission clock's been running for almost nine minutes Perry, what the hell are you doing here, cluttering up my Base?" Kate asked him, with no particular emotion.
"Moving out ma'am." Perry was gone instantly.
Lupe felt ill as the Task Force rolled out. She didn't want to be there, but she couldn't let them leave without at least being there to see them off.
"Lupe?"
The girl turned, and found Meg, one of the Tunnel Rats, the youngest of their first generation, holding out a small slip. "From Kyle."
Meg took off without a word, and Lupe opened the note.
'Wish Upon a Star, Lupe. I'll be back. - Kyle.'
Lupe didn't smile. Not on the outside. But she hummed their song to herself as they went off to war.
Z Plus Ten Years Sixty Days
Noah led the Task Force across the wasteland for days. Their route was somewhat slowed by caution, as their way was littered by Machines. Most of the ones that were still there were all offline, frozen still in whatever position they were in when the pulse hit them.
Even so, there was the constant worry that they might be decoys. Tech-Com fired a few rounds into each motionless H/K as they passed, the Terminators were knocked over from a distance.
With every concentration of fried Machines, they sent co-ordinates back, and Tech-Com started harvesting Machines for reprogramming.
The uncertainty of the path slowed them down. They didn't dare go by air. What should have been a twelve hour journey now took a few days.
Griffin was worried about Kyle. The young man had been quiet for most of the journey. Every now and then his eyes would spot an enemy on the horizon and go feral. More out of a need to keep his mind in the field than back at Crystal Peak with Lupe, Reese kept volunteering to check out visible Machines; and test if they were still alive.
The Cartel Union had a few scouts hidden in most parts of the Americas; watching the oceans and monitoring the trade lines between the north and south continents. Skynet had been sending materials between the two countries.
The third group reached Arecibo first; having come by helicopter. It was nerve wracking for Kyle, being in the air. For most of them in fact; long used to being Underground.
They were met at the ground by a few of the Union men. Kyle spoke Spanish and had a quick conference with them; asking for a lead to investigate. The Union had been hit by the Pulse too, and it fried all their equipment so that they couldn't report in.
Perry and the rest of the Unit had joined them a few hours later; and waited a while for Noah with the rest of the task Force. While they were waiting, Kyle and Griffin told Perry what they'd discovered, and a bargain was made. Some radio equipment would be traded for information.
"De donde vino?" Kyle asked as he handed over the equipment..
"El Radar." They had told him.
"Radar." Perry said when he'd joined them. "They mean the Observatory."
Lupe was reporting for her daily check-up.
"Any symptoms?" Carla asked her.
Lupe sighed. "Nausea. A little... light-headed. I was feeling pretty weak this morning."
"That's normal." Carla said.
Lupe turned and stalked out of the room.
"Lupe! Wait!" Carla called after her. "We have to talk about some..."
"You just said it was all normal." Lupe called back irritably.
"Let her go."
Carla turned around, and noticed Kate had come into the Medbay.
Carla glanced after Lupe. "We shouldn't have waited this long. I'm her doctor. It should be me."
"I know. But... there are factors you don't know about."
Carla glanced back at the file in her hands. "Something not on the file?"
"Something personal." Kate said. It should come from family.
Kate came into the Mess Hall. Lupe saw her and stood up to leave, ignoring her half eaten tray.
Kate didn't react as Lupe brushed past her, but turned to follow.
Kate fell into step with the girl as she marched. Once they were alone, Kate spoke. "You can't stay mad at me forever."
"I'm not mad." Lupe said, as sullen as a seventeen year old should be. "I don't know why I'm acting like this; I really don't. I want to not be sick, but that ship sailed and... I don't know, I just want to... I don't know. I want to cry and kill something and..."
Kate hooked a hand into Lupe's elbow and pulled her into one of the Dorms, giving them privacy. "Sit Down." Kate commanded.
Lupe hated it, but did so.
"You don't have the measles." Kate said quietly.
Lupe stared at her, uncomprehending.
"You're pregnant." Kate told her.
Lupe paled. "What? No… Nonono, we were careful!" Lupe insisted.
Kate smiled. "In my experience, biology trumps preparation."
"No I mean it! We checked! Kyle and I both went through all the medical tests before we started... We were both clean!"
Kate felt slightly ill at that. "Lupe, pregnancy is not exactly a sexually transmitted disease we test for."
Lupe just looked at her. "I caught it, didn't I?"
Kate took the conversation in. There had been unplanned pregnancies, but none of them were exactly unwanted any longer… Being pregnant was a good thing, damn near a miracle; with plenty of infertile people who wanted to be parents waiting to take over if the child was unplanned… or if their natural family was killed unexpectedly…
Lupe knew what Kate was thinking. "I know. I know. It's a good thing. It is. It's just… Kyle and I never talked about this…"
"Kyle adores you Lupe; he'll be thrilled! It's not like you'll have to do it alone." Kate told her. This was true. There were more people, more infrastructure set up to protect and care newborn in Crystal Peak than had ever been offered Back Before.
Lupe scrubbed her face. "Why didn't you tell me before?"
Kate squeezed her shoulder gently. "We're supposed to tell the mother first; in private. Perry had to know because he was your CO, but other than that... When Carla came and got you, you were surrounded by soldiers. After that... well, you were making such a fuss in Medbay that there were plenty of people watching you, and after Kyle left you were avoiding me like the plague." Kate looked knowingly at Lupe. "So why don't we talk about what's really bothering you?"
Lupe sighed and confessed. "Kyle's part of the 132nd now. And so am I. It's the first mission either of us has ever gone on without the other since becoming soldiers. Kyle's out fighting. I'm… not. I'm back here… and it looks like I'm gonna be for nine months now!"
Kate felt a wave of empathy for the girl. "Lupe… I went through the same thing."
Lupe looked up at her. "You did?"
"Yep. This isn't widely known among people your age, but before Sarah, and before you ever met any of us, John and Kyle and I were in the Camps. I was pregnant. Not even as far along as you are now. We broke out of the camp… and I got smacked around a bit. Not much. I got right back up again, but the baby didn't."
Lupe looked at her, horrified. She had put a hand over her stomach protectively, without even realizing it.
Kate felt a pang. The facts of her miscarriage weren't widely talked about, but every female soldier went through this; and she had told them all the tale. Kate had become the helpful reminder of why combat was too dangerous while pregnant; no matter how careful you were. She pushed the thought away. "Lupe, the war has been going for years now, and there's still plenty to go. You and Kyle have been partners for longer than you've been soldiers. Nine months is nothing compared to that."
Lupe nodded, knowing the reasons, agreeing with them, but hating this anyway. "Are… are they still going to let us stay together?"
"Rules on fraternization were never in the Tech-Com rulebook." Kate said. "A lot of married couples, or couples with children, fight together. It's one of the risks we take." She took a breath. "I won't lie to you. It's a bad idea to have an incomplete compliment for long. Perry will no doubt replace you for nine months. And after that, who knows where either of you will end up? It's life in the Armed Forces."
Lupe shivered. "I… I want to protect Kyle. It doesn't matter that he can look after himself. It doesn't matter that there's a whole Unit with him. I'm not there."
Kate smiled sadly. "I know the feeling." She smiled softly. "Here. This is for you." She handed over a small package. Lupe unwrapped it, and found a soft and somewhat faded baby blanket. "It was Sarah's."
Lupe took it, and sagged as it all suddenly hit her. She was going to have a baby.
Kate smiled softly and gave the girl a hug.
Z Plus Ten Years Sixty Two Days
"Well. Would you look at that?" Noah said darkly.
Perry was at her left, struck dumb. "My god..."
They had reached their destination. The trees had been burned away, and there in the distance was the Arecibo telescope. The Dish was a thousand feet across, with a surface area of twenty acres. It was a huge bowl carved into the earth, originally meant for searching the sky.
The telescope had been originally placed in the middle of a dense forest; and now the trees were burned away...
And in their place was an army of Machines. Hundreds of them. Thousands of them. The area surrounding the telescope was a Machine graveyard.
The Huge H/K's were visible from far away. The Terminators were spread out like a carpet of still statues, mid-step. Aerial H/K's were smashed into the ground. They were packed so tight that it was hard to get past them.
When the Telescope was in operation, it sat above the Dish, a 900 ton platform suspended on cables above the parabolic dish.
But it was now changed or replaced with something new. It was chrome and completely lacking in aesthetics or windows. A facility of some kind, suspended as the Telescope had been, over the direct center of the dish. There were gantry-ways leading up to it; and extra buildings along the edge of the dish.
Nothing was moving.
"Does this seem as Bad to you as it does to me?" Perry asked.
"And then some." Noah agreed. "All right. Let's be smart about this. If we head for the hills we can get some cover, and a clear view of both directions; the observatory and the far side of the mountain range."
Perry nodded, and the Task Force started moving.
"Colonel?"
Kate turned, and saw one of the Tunnel Rats sneaking out of the kitchen. They helped out with everything in every department. "Hi Meg."
Meg was the youngest of the Tunnel Rats. Still only eight or nine years old herself, she was a baby when J-Day came, and was raised by the kids in the Tunnels, though Kate had always checked her health. Small and rail thin, even more so than usual, she slipped into step with Kate. "Why do you give gifts?"
"I'm sorry?"
"Well… whenever we get food or something, the Rats share it around. Lupe didn't want to share the Blanket, because it was a gift. Why do you give gifts?"
Kate felt awkward for some reason. "Well, sometimes to congratulate people for things, sometimes to reward them; but mostly to show someone you care for them."
"Doesn't Lupe know that already?"
Kate smiled bigger. "Yeah. But it's nice to be reminded."
Meg looked sad suddenly.
"What's wrong sweetie?"
"Well…" Meg leaned in like it was a secret. "When Kyle first brought Lupe, she gave us all sweets. We shared them around and ate them all up. It was the night we came here. I don't remember too well. But after that… shoes, clothes… we share all that stuff. If it doesn't fit one of us, it fits someone else. But most of The Tunnel Rats… they don't have a lot of things. Most of us left the camps with the clothes we were wearing."
Kate reacted. "Oh."
Meg nodded. She looked worried suddenly. "You and Connor give us food and clothes and shoes and stuff… You know right? Even though we don't give you gifts?"
The Children of the Dust were still so disconnected, especially when it came to their feelings. Kate smiled and gave Meg a halfway hug. "Of course I do Meg."
Meg nodded, uncomfortable but immeasurably relieved. "Okay. Good."
"And you know that I love all of you too right?"
Meg jerked, not liking that answer, and pulled away. "Yeah. Yeah, we know. I gotta go."
It took them a few hours to slip around the outside of the zone unobtrusively. As the Task Force entered the hills, they came across wrecked Machines. Unlike the ones they had found on their journey, these ones were wrecked, burned out and destroyed.
The Majority of the Task Force stayed in the hills, ready to charge down and get involved if they were needed. Scouts were sent into the buildings surrounding the dish, and then along the gantry-ways into the structure above the center of the dish.
"Whatever happened here, it looks like we missed it." Perry said quietly.
Noah could see the scouting party moving across the narrow Gantry. The way so narrow that the bridge swayed horribly under their weight.
Kyle was looking back and forth, as though searching for something.
Noah didn't turn to look at him. "What is it Reese?"
"Well..." Kyle shook his head. "I don't know, but this is just wrong."
"Your instincts bothering you Reese?" Perry asked without turning.
"Yessir."
"Mine too."
Noah looked back and forth again, across the burned out wreckage of Machines, and the eerie stillness as the Recon team checked in. "Boss, we got nothing here. All the buildings, plus the... whatever it is above the Dish. We got nothing. It looks like there was equipment of some kind in here before; but it's all gone now. Somebody cleaned this place out. Days ago at least."
Noah spun on Reese and Perry. "The Union knew the pulse came from here. Did they come here themselves?"
"No. Not according to them."
"Sonofa-" Noah started to swear and cut herself off as she grabbed for her radio. "Ambush! Out! OUT!"
Perry had his weapons drawn too. "Everyone take cover, eyes scanning!"
Kyle had his weapon out. "What? WHAT!"
"If all Skynet's Machines got fried by the pulse, and nobody else has been here since, then who moved out all the equipment? And who destroyed the Machines in the hills and left the others untouched?"
Kyle paled, and could see the Recon Teams running out of the structure above the Dish, the gantry way's starting to swing, when suddenly the untouched dead Machines started to come alive. In the dim pale light, a million glowing red eyes flared into existence, and started scanning.
The Task Force was used to the threat of Ambush. The hills were outside their reach, surrounded by the Machines already wrecked and burned out… Their Recon team was not.
The wind was omnipresent, but when it shifted towards them it carried the unmistakable sound of Plasmafire, and the death-yells of people gunned down.
"We have to get down there!" Kyle hissed.
"Hold your position Corporal!" Noah barked. She seemed sick about it too. "By the time we got down there…"
The Plasmafire had stopped. The Machines were moving.
Noah had her radio out. "All right folks, you all saw it. First positions, take your marks, save your ammo till they get close. Second Positions, long range mortar fire; try to thin 'em out."
The Task Force all hugged dirt, ready to take on the approaching Skynet Forces. They were getting closer to the hills… when they all just stopped.
"What are they doing?" Perry hissed.
"They know not to chase us into cover. We've used that tactic too many times." Noah explained.
"Then why did they spring the trap at all? They knew we were up here. Why'd they show their hand whe-"
A low rumbling came to answer, and Noah spun, bounding to the opposite side of the hilltop, looking back in the opposite direction in horror.
Another Army of Machines, hundreds of H/K's in the air and on the ground, thousands of terminators, marching in flawless formations, cutting off the way they came.
"Where the hell did they come from?" Noah demanded.
"Probably from wherever they took their equipment; or wherever the other Machines came from…" Perry guessed. "Maybe…"
Plasmafire again, this time far more intense.
Noah was on her radio. "Guard your rears. We've got more enemy agents approaching from our flanks."
"There's another word for that you know." Perry commented. "Surrounded."
They traded a bleak glance.
The battle went for almost an hour. Humanity withdrew further into the hills, leading them on. They left mines and decoys and traps, set up with a speed that only Tech-Com could deliver, and the H/K's withdrew. The Terminators were the only ones that could follow on foot, and Tech-Com had the higher ground. Once again it was an attrition fight, trying to grind the other out, one soldier at a time.
Further up the hills, able to see in both directions, Noah calculated the odds. The chances that Skynet could march enough troops in to get them was slim. The odds that Tech-Com could sneak out before enemy reinforcements arrived was non-existent.
Stalemate.
"Griffin; Reese." Noah said quietly. "Get the radio to somewhere you can see the horizon and call back to Palace. Let the Chief know just how screwed we are."
"But don't say it like that." Perry added.
AN: Another shift of a few years. We'll be here a few chapters. As always, I have little to no knowledge of any of the technologies involved. Read and Review!